A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows a Fox News segment about President Donald Trump testing positive for COVID-19.
Verdict: False
The video is deceptively edited and visually manipulated. Fox News has not reported that Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
Fact Check:
The video, posted on May 18, shows footage of the White House, along with a chyron that reads, “Trump tests positive for COVID-19.” (RELATED: Did An MSNBC Reported Say, ‘I Hope Enough People Die From Coronavirus That It Harms Trump’s Re-Election’?)
“Brought to you just a moment ago, Fox News alert: the White House medical team confirming President Donald Trump has confirmed positive for the coronavirus,” a news anchor can be heard saying. “The White House just put out a statement.”
Through a keyword search, the Daily Caller found the original clip published on Fox News’ official YouTube channel on May 7. A comparison of the two videos revealed that the Facebook clip has been deceptively edited.The original segment, which features anchor Sandra Smith, discusses how one of Trump’s personal valets tested positive for COVID-19.
In the Facebook video, the words “a valet to” have been cut out of Smith’s delivery to make it seem like the president, rather than the valet, tested positive. The word “valet” has also been digitally removed from the Fox News chyron, which actually read, “Trump valet tests positive for COVID-19.”
Shortly after the valet tested positive, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported May 7. Trump more recently told reporters on May 21 that he had tested “positively toward negative” in his daily coronavirus test that morning, according to The Hill.
There is no record of Fox News reporting that the president had tested positive for COVID-19.